new brew

[neil smith]

hi all, done my first brew yesterday and pitched yeast at 22c dropping down to 20c as set, got up this morning to something that resembles a bubble bath with all the foam, is this normal or do i skim it off.
cheers Neil

[alix101]

Its called the krausen its exactly what you want.

[orlando]

Perfectly normal, next time though chill beer to a couple of degrees under the temp you want to ferment at and let it come up to to fermentation temp as the beer will generate heat exothermically and can easily overshoot and potentially develop undesirable flavours. No big deal, as 2 degrees is something yeast can just about accommodate, but anything more stresses them.

[neil smith]

thanks thats put my mind at rest, just spoke to the brewer at my local micro and he just said stir the froth back in and it should settle down, but do i turn off the air stone yet as that produces bubbles.
cheers Neil

[musojohn]

To be fair white labs says pitch at 21 ish then reduce once fermentation has started

[orlando]

To be fair white labs says pitch at 21 ish then reduce once fermentation has started

I suppose that might be yeast specific, but in his book Chris White says (p 67) ..."the better course for beer quality is often pitching at or slightly below fermentation temperature...... The benefit of this process is controlled yeast growth, which often results in better overall yeast health, less leakage through the cell membrane, and thus a cleaner beer profile."

He does however advocate higher if underpitching, which unless you are pitching within days of manufacture of his yeast (unlikely) you pretty much always are, which is why I always use a starter.

Wish these guys would make up their mind

[brodington]

but do i turn off the air stone yet as that produces bubbles.
cheers Neil

Yes, i only aerate for 20 mins or so. Have you been doing it all night?

[alix101]

Yeah The airstone should of been turned off you only needed it to initially oxygenate your wort to help the yeast get off to good a start.oxygen and beer don't mix .

[neil smith]

yes it was on all night but yeast is bubbling well and actually smells like beer, happy days so far although temp is up to 21.3 even though temp control heater is set at 20c, if it gets much higher might have to rig up the cooler.
cheers Neil